The Marin County man who was found dead Tuesday in a car that had plummeted off a cliff on Mount Tamalpais had been the subject of a 29-count federal fraud indictment.

Bijan Madjlessi, 58, of Mill Valley was found about 1 p.m. in a car that had dropped over a 400-foot embankment along Highway 1, just north of Panoramic Highway outside Mill Valley, CHP Officer Andrew Barclay said.

Madjlessi, whose family had reported him missing Sunday, was pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities are investigating whether the crash was a suicide, an accident or something else.

Madjlessi's lawyer, Steven Bauer, said Wednesday that Madjlessi was innocent of the charges against him.

"Compounding the tragedy is that he died before he could clear his good name in our courts," Bauer said. "He firmly believed he would defeat his accusers."

Madjlessi and three others were indicted in early April on federal charges accusing them of conspiracy, bank and wire fraud, money laundering, making false statements to a bank, false bank entries and obstruction of justice.

The case was the result of a years-long probe by federal agents who utilized a confidential informant, covert recordings and undercover surveillance.

The charges against the group related to a residential real estate project in Santa Rosa called Park Lane Villas East.

Madjlessi, prosecutors said, defaulted on a $30 million loan on the project in 2008, then conspired with the three others in 2009 to use Sonoma Valley Bank funds to buy back his own defaulted loan and regain control of the property through a straw corporation.

After appearing in court last month, Madjlessi was released on $250,000 bail. If found guilty, he could have faced nearly $8 million in fines and decades in prison. He was scheduled to appear in court for a status hearing Friday.

To some who had worked with Madjlessi, the indictment was not surprising.

"I think he probably saw what was coming," said Chad Empey, who owns a Petaluma glass company that did business with Madjlessi dating back to the 1990s. "He was looking at a substantial amount of time in prison. Still, I'm absolutely saddened. I wouldn't wish this on anybody."